With the initiatives of the Minister of Tourism and Environment Kutlu Evren and the sensitivity of Girne Mayor Nidai Güngördü, cleaning works were started in the location of the Boğazkoy picnic area.
Cleaning works were initiated by the Girne Municipality Cleaning Branch teams in the Boğazkoy picnic area where more than 100 garbage bags of solid waste were collected in the first stage in the cleaning works carried out in a large area from the early hours of 20th July 2020.
Mayor Güngördü stated that the cleaning and protection of the public areas is the responsibility of those who use these areas and underlined that the condition of the Boğazkoy picnic area, which is the most preferred among the rare picnic areas in the country, is not heartwarming and the people who use it do not show the necessary sensitivity to the region.
Although Girne Municipality does not have responsibility for the area, Güngördü stated that they have carried out cleaning work in the area from time to time as a Municipality, and stated that they placed many garbage containers in the area, but even the garbage containers provided were stolen or destroyed as a result of the insensitivity of the citizens using the area.
Nidai Güngördü stated that they started the cleaning work after the Minister of Tourism and Environment Kutlu Evren contacted him, and announced that the cleaning activities they started on Monday, 20th July will continue.
The Mayor pointed out that more than 100 garbage bags of solid waste were collected on the first day of their cleaning work in the Boğazkoy picnic area, and among this waste were broken glass bottles that could cause fire, especially during the current hot weather.
Underlining that the best protection of the environment is not to pollute, Güngördü stated that citizens should act more sensitively and this is the most important citizenship duty.
Source (Turkish): Girne Municipality
There should be signs encouraging people to take their rubbish with them, or maybe fines for people caught leaving their rubbish, having a park ranger in uniform, in a marked ranger car patrolling the area on weekends, and educating children in schools about pollution and the environment, taking them out on clean up excursions and who will hopefully shame their parents into doing the right thing.